


A Certain Reputation

by rowofstars



Series: Bragging Rights [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Humor, papafire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8719540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: A prompt from my wonderful Bragging Rights Anon: Does Neal / Baelfire exist in this verse and if so how does he feel about his Papas new reputation? (I'm a sucker for floof family feels)





	

**Author's Note:**

> SO THIS THING HAPPENED… Thank you, BR Anon, you are so lovely. This ended up being a perfect setup for the next chapter that I feel like has been in progress forever. Maybe this is the push I need to wrap that up… :)

“So…” Neal said, sauntering into the kitchen where Gold was hard at work preparing dinner. “I really get to meet her?”

Gold looked up from the cutting board, knife still in hand and raised an eyebrow at his son. “Yes,” he said, swallowing hard. “Yes, Belle will be here in about an hour.”

Neal licked his lips and moved to sit down at the island. “I, uh, hear you have quite a reputation now.”

Gold sighed and brought the knife down through the onion he was holding, chopping it into quarters and then eigths. “Son, I have always had a reputation in this town. I know I’ve earned it, but there isn’t much I can do about it now. At least Belle doesn’t -”

Neal snorted and shook his head. “No. No, that - that’s not what I meant, Pop.”

The onion wedges went into the large pot on the stove, and then Gold turned to face his son. “Then what?”

“I, um, stopped at Granny’s before I went to the shop,” Neal explained. “I knew it was rent day, and I had time to kill, so…”

Gold nodded and started slicing carrots.

“ _Leroy_ was there.”

Gold blanched at the way Neal stressed Storybrooke’s resident grumpy handyman’s name. Despite his outward gruffness and face that always seemed to be frowning, Leroy was the biggest gossip in town. If there was something to know he knew it. And lately the talk of the town had involved entirely too much of his and Belle’s love life. 

Though there was a part of him that certainly didn’t mind the town’s improved opinion of him, or his sexual prowess not being in question, it wasn’t really something he actually wanted a lot of people to know about. Certainly not his own son.

“Neal, I -” Gold gave him a plaintive look.

Neal laughed and shook his head. “No, it’s - ” he paused and pressed his lips together, uncertain of what to say. “It’s - fine.”

Gold looked down, his face heating with shame.

“Hey,” Neal said softly, reaching across the island to put a hand on his father’s arm. “Papa, it’s fine.” Gold looked up, unsure. “Really. It is.” 

Then he sat back and winced, squeezing his eyes shut. “I mean it’s _way_ more than I wanted to know, but -”

Gold started to smile. “Yes, I’m sure it is. And I really am sorry.”

Neal nodded, smiling too. “Well, you can start making it up to me with your world famous spaghetti sauce, and maybe after a couple glasses of wine I won’t care.”

He smirked and Gold laughed.

“Well, that’s the plan,” Gold said. Then he sighed. “And I really hope you like Belle. She - she’s great.”

Neal had to look down at his hands for a second to keep himself together. He had never heard his father speak of anyone like that, and he could tell by the hitch in his voice that he was utterly smitten. Head over heels in love even.

“I’m sure she is.”


End file.
